Radioactive Communist Zombies

Romney's Strategery

Today Mitt Romney visited a steel mill in Pennsylvania that shut down after President Obama visited it in 2009.  As the Primary Event reports (links original):

Mitt Romney will visit Allentown Metal Works this afternoon, a now-closed factory that President Obama visited in December 2009 as part of a swing through Pennsylvania to speak about his job creation efforts. Romney’s campaign is underscoring the symbolism of the visit with a new web video that showcases Obama’s original remarks — and the number of jobs lost in Pennsylvania since then.

Pennsylvania will probably be a swing state in 2012.

You realize Romney has a strategy in all this?  He's acting like the nominee and running against Obama.  This strategy has two parts: 1) money spent against Obama now comes from  his "primary stash" and so he has more money to spend in the general election and 2) if he acts like the nominee, he might sway more people to make him the nominee.

Let's hope #2 doesn't work and #1 becomes moot.

Ask a Question . . .

Earlier today I asked, "[W]ho the heck is Thaddeus McCotter?"

And now I've found out, thanks to The Corner (links original):

Thad McCotter, a Republican House member from Michigan, will announce a presidential run Saturday in his home state, reports USA Today.

McCotter has been in the House since 2002 and served as chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee from 2006 to 2010.

And other than that, I know nothing about him.  So I guess I know nothing bad about him (of course, I said that once of Jon Huntsman).  But I don't know anything good about him, either.  Might just be one more wannabe grabbing for the brass ring (how's that for mixing my metaphors?) and will drop out sometime after getting trounced in New Hampshire.

Romney and Perry Statistically Tied

Fox News released a poll late yesterday on Republican primary choices.  The margin of error was 5.5% and the results were:

• Romney: 18%
• Perry: 13%
• Bachmann: 11%
• Giuliani: 10%
• Palin: 8%
• Paul: 7%
• Cain: 5%

There were 9 others who scored less than 3% (who the heck is Thaddeus McCotter?).

Since the poll had a margin of error of 5.5%, Romney is tied with Perry statistically.  And Perry's not even in the race yet!  In fact, of the top five in this poll, only two (Romney and Bachmann) are announced candidates.  This could be a sign that Republican primary voters are still not satisfied with their field of candidates.

Romney is still the front-runner probably due to a) name recognition and b) that nasty Republican voter habit of saying "It's their turn; they've put in the time" which gave us Bob Dole and John McCain as our nominees.  (Only time that possibly worked was with Richard Nixon.)

Myself, I'm sort of a three-way tie.  I like Perry.  I like Bachmann (unexpectedly!), and I like Cain.  But Cain seems to be fading while Perry and Bachmann are rising.  I never choose my preferred candidates by poll numbers but being down in the polls is just another negative about Cain.

It's going to be fun and interesting to watch.  Just wish I got to participate.

Must be the End of the Month

I drove today from Spokane Washington to home.  I saw a total of eight cops on the road doing traffic enforcement, seven of those between Spokane and Sprague (a distance of about 40 miles). Five were Washington State Patrol in cars.  Two were motorcycle cops that I think were WSP, and one was a Spokane County Deputy.

Police will say they don't have a quota on ticket writing.  But it sure seems enforcement picks up around the end of the month.  And there was construction (and a lowered speed limit) just west of Spokane and that's where four of the eight cops where (and traffic fines double in work zones).

So if you're going to speed, I suggest doing it the first week of the month.  Might decrease your chances of an encounter with Officer Friendly.

Club for Growth likes Bachmann

The Club for Growth, the supply side group that supports pro-economic-growth candidates, has rated Congresswoman and presidential candidate Michele Bachmann.  Their conclusion:

With very few exceptions, Congresswoman Bachmann has supported pro-growth policies throughout her career. She especially deserves praise for her consistent defense of school choice. After reviewing her record, we are confident that Congresswoman Bachmann would be a pro-growth President.

Now if she could just keep her mouth under control.  But she'd make a much better president than the current occupant of the White House.  I'm still holding out for Rick Perry.

More Presidential Initiatives

Today, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that the individual mandate in Obamacare, requiring all U.S. citizens to buy minimal health insurance. As the New Yuck Times reports:

The Obama administration prevailed in the first appellate review of the 2010 health care law on Wednesday as a three-judge panel from the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held that it was constitutional for Congress to require that Americans obtain health insurance.

Upon this ruling, the Obama Administration announced the following legislative initiatives:

The Healthy Citizens and Children Act (HCCA):  This will require each American over the age of 6 to purchase a gym membership.  Due to the need for bi-partisan support, the enforcement clause requiring visits to a gym was dropped in committee.

The Energy Security and Environmental Transportation Act (ESETA): This act will require each American family with one or more automobiles registered for road use to purchase a plug-in electric hybrid vehicle with a minimum MPGe of 100.

The Waste Elimination Healthy Gardening Act (WEHGA): Simply put, every American household will be required to compost and use the compost in growing a "Save the Earth" garden which will both provide fresh, healthy vegetables but reduce carbon emissions from going to the store to buy food.  Apartment dwellers will be required to cooperate in community composting and gardening.

What?  You say the government can't force you to do those things?  Well, if they can force you to buy a commodity (i.e. health insurance) why can't they force you to buy anything.  Or do anything?  Yes, those acts above are jokes.

At least for now.

Bike Lanes to Save the Economy

The ecologically-minded online newspaper Grist says we can solve all our economic woes by building bike lanes (Hat tip: Planet Gore and links original):

Looking at 58 projects in 11 states, the researchers found that cycle-oriented infrastructure created 11.6 jobs for every $1 million spent, versus 7.8 for road-only projects. Pedestrian projects were in the middle, creating 9.6 jobs per $1 million.

(Look at the picture on the Grist website and you'll see why where four guys are putting down a graphic on the pavement and only two of them seem to be working.)

And, of course, by that logic, we need more bike infrastructure (again, links original):

So basically, we need to get cracking on those bike interstates if we want to save the economy. And after building bike infrastructure solves the job crisis, using bike infrastructure can help you save money on transportation! Bikeonomics at its best.

But here's a question that needs to be asked: where does that $1 million to create 11.6 jobs (a rate of 86,206 per job) come from? Well, it has to come out of the economy as either taxes or debt.  And that reduces economic activity by the private sector which creates the wealth need to tax $1 million to build bike lanes.

Now infrastructure is a public good.  Streets and roads help trade by allowing goods to be quickly and economically moved around the country.  They allow people to travel to their jobs and to their leisure activities.  While bike lanes may do the latter (for a very small percentage of people since 0.38% of all commutes happen on bicycles) they are really bad for the former (never seen an 18-wheeler bicycle hauling 40,000 pounds of goods).

This is the same fallacy of the $900 billion stimulus the Democrats and the Obama administration foisted on us.  If you really think building bike interstates will save the economy, just ask yourself: what if everyone in the country was building bike interstates?  Then where would the money come from to build them?

Economic Freedom

Watch this:

And yes, our quality of life will diminish as our freedoms diminish.

Seattle's War on Small Business

As Ronald Reagan said, "It isn't so much that liberals are ignorant. It's just that they know so many things that aren't so."   Liberals love workers but don't seem to realize that workers need employers.  And that means businesses, small and large.

Yet the Seattle city council is ready to follow San Francisco over the brink is mandating sick days for employees for businesses in Seattle.  According to the Washington Policy Center's analysis, the direct costs will be as high as $90 million.

Other facts about the proposed law:

• There is no economic impact statement or cost/benefit analysis; lawmakers are not serious about the cost of compliance, only the benefit.
• This ordinance would impact businesses outside the city of Seattle whose employees work inside city limits at least 80 hours per year.
• Businesses inside the city whose employees work outside of city limits would be included in the FTE calculation, which determines how many paid sick days an employee is entitled to.
• Collectively-bargained work forces would be subjected to this new entitlement unless the agreement specifically waives this benefit (and few, if any, do).
• There are no exemptions for small businesses. Businesses with a single employee would be affected.

As I've stated before, it's simple supply and demand.  If you increase the cost of employing someone, you decrease the demand for employees.  This mandate will be an onerous burden for small businesses which are where the growth in the economy will have to come from.

Seattle's been a fortunate city with very little "urban decay" and still has a vibrant downtown business sector.  But that won't last long if the city drives out small business.  Then who's going to pay the taxes for all those plug-in Priuses the city bought?

Bad Mood

I'm in a bad mood.  Have been for a few days now.  It just seems that I don't know what to do anymore.  Planet Gore has two pieces on how the Obama Administration is going to ruin the automobile in its quest for all thing global-warming holy. 

Meanwhile, the state of Washington Department of Transportation wants to eliminate a lane, put in sidewalks and bike lanes, and two roundabouts at one of the busiest places in town.  Don't like to drive in Seattle traffic?  We'll bring Seattle-like traffic to you!  And the city council (who I don't get to vote against because I live outside the city limits) has signed off on the plan.  The DOT says their models show traffic will move more smoothly with one lane gone and slow-moving roundabouts in place of intersections.  I think they're using the same computational engine that said global warming would kill us all by now.  I swear this is all just part of a war on cars to make them less appealing and less efficient.  As if those of us living in small town have realistic choices other than our cars.

The bad thing is, if Obama is defeated in 2012 (please!), there is small chance the stupid policies he's putting in place will be reversed.  And the automobile will become a medium-mileage, low comfort, low power, and low safety transportation device.  Only the rich (like Al Gore) will be able to afford a decent car.

Meanwhile, hurricane and tropical storm activity are at near-record lows.  Apparently all that global-warming causes hurricanes meme is proving to be as accurate as the 50 million climate refugees in 2010.  But inconvenient truths never stop eco-warriors and we elected one to the highest office in the land.